IU's Fred Glass looks beyond Assembly Hall renovation

BLOOMINGTON – With completion of Assembly Hall’s extensive renovation on the horizon, and the Memorial Stadium South End Zone project approved for further planning, Indiana University athletic director Fred Glass is staying aggressive.

Both projects fall under the umbrella of a three-pronged capital improvements initiative Glass has quarterbacked over the last two-plus years, as part of IU’s billion-dollar bicentennial fundraising campaign. He said he expects a multi-purpose volleyball/wrestling facility, located on Indiana’s athletic campus, to break ground next year.

“We’re almost open on Assembly Hall,” Glass said at a Wednesday news conference. “Memorial Stadium, we’re going to break ground on that. I’m confident we’ll break ground on the indoor arena in the first or second quarter of the next calendar year. So that’s on track.”

Glass also moved two more projects – rebuilding IU’s golf course and renovating Armstrong Stadium – from the wish list closer to the campaign.

Both potential projects merited mentions during an official capital improvements ceremony in March, but Glass characterized both as possible, saying then that IU needed to secure funding before moving forward.

$45 million Assembly Hall renovation enters final stages

While he offered few specifics Wednesday, Glass cut a confident figure when asked about the golf course and Armstrong Stadium, home to IU’s soccer teams and the university’s annual Little 500 bicycle race.

"We need a major donor for the golf course renovation, and I’m very optimistic that we’ll get that," he said. "We need a major donor for the soccer project, and I’m hopeful about that."

Assembly Hall renovation will be completed early in the fall, with official dedication of the building set for Oct. 14. It will be renamed Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall upon dedication, thanks to Indianapolis philanthropist Cindy Simon Skjodt’s $40 million donation to the project.

Glass still expects construction on the South End Zone facility – which will house IU’s “Excellence Academy” and allow for renovation of its football locker rooms – to begin shortly after the conclusion of the upcoming football season.

“By December or at least January, I think we’ll be in the ground working on that,” Glass said. “It’s an 18-month process, so we’ll be in process on the following season, and then open for business the season after that.”

While he emphasized that the facilities housed in the forthcoming South End Zone structure will be available to all student-athletes, Glass spoke enthusiastically about the impact it could have on Indiana’s football program in particular.

“The benefits to the football program are undeniable,” he said. “We’re going to have this fantastic new front door to campus. We will close in the (stadium) bowl and create a louder, I think tougher, more collegiate environment. We’re going to spend $53 million to do that, all raised through philanthropy within the athletic department.”

IU football stadium enclosure approved

Since Glass’ arrival in 2009, Indiana has enclosed the north end of Memorial Stadium, opened a basketball practice facility (Cook Hall) and replaced both its baseball and softball stadiums, among other improvements. The first two projects began under Rick Greenspan, his predecessor.

Using the bicentennial campaign, during which IU hopes to raise $2.5 billion across its eight campuses, as his impetus, Glass hopes his current capital improvements campaign can buoy IU athletics long into the future.

“If we’re able to do that, that’ll be a quarter of a billion dollars of investment in athletic facilities in a decade,” Glass said. “I think it will help Indiana University athletics be competitive for another generation.”

GLASS: FOOTBALL COMMITMENT REMAINS STRONG

Indiana’s 2016 football season opens Sept. 1 at Florida International, with its home opener against Ball State scheduled nine days later. That season will open with coach Kevin Wilson working under a new six-year contract, one of the longest in the Big Ten.

It will also be fans’ first look at new defensive coordinator Tom Allen -- one of three coaches hired in the offseason, Glass said, as part of an effort to give Wilson the resources necessary to hire or retain quality assistants.

“We also spread the love a little bit and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the coaching staff,” Glass said, “to attract defensive coordinator Tom Allen, to attract back defensive line coach Mark Hagen and to bring Keith Caton, a great strength and conditioning coach, to us, as well as retain valuable members of the balance of the coaching staff, and increase some of their salaries.”

Why IU believes Tom Allen is man to fix Hoosiers' defense

The department also invested $700,000 in a new artificial-turf field that Glass said will offer “a bolder look, bolder graphics in the end zone, a bigger bolder state-of-Indiana silhouette at midfield.”

And fans can expect smaller amenities scattered throughout the stadium, including:

>> Pedi-cabs around the stadium on game days.

>> Free water, and free refills on souvenir cups.

>> Food trucks at Gate E2, and in the Red Lot.

IU will also offer Memorial Stadium tours on the Friday before game days. Glass said fans will get field and press box access, as well as tours of Mellencamp Pavilion (IU’s indoor practice facility), Cook Hall and Assembly Hall. Tours will run from 7-9 p.m. on the nights before home games, and fans can sign up at IUHoosiers.com.

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.